Tristan Stubbs and KL Rahul of Delhi Capitals after their IPL 2025 win over Rajasthan Royals in a Super Over. (PHOTO: Sportzpics for IPL)Delhi Capitals Retained Complete Player List with Price for IPL 2026: After missing a playoff spot by a whisker in 2025, the Delhi Capitals will look to reassess their squad ahead of the Indian Premier League 2026 auction.
The 2025 season promised much initially but delivered less as Delhi’s campaign progressed. They began with four consecutive wins but managed only three victories from their final ten fixtures, eventually finishing fifth in the standings, just one point behind the fourth-placed Mumbai Indians.
While rumours were heating up about the potential exit of star top-order batter KL Rahul, who was linked with the Kolkata Knight Riders, it is largely understood that DC will stand by their man.
There was also strong speculation of a straight-up player trade with the Rajasthan Royals, who were reportedly seeking Tristan Stubbs in return for Sanju Samson. However, with Samson moving to the Chennai Super Kings in a deal for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, that possibility has been closed. Consequently, DC are expected to retain the core of their squad, including Axar Patel, who captained the side last season, KL Rahul, Stubbs, their marquee spinner Kuldeep Yadav, Sameer Rizvi, and, to some extent, Mitchell Starc.
To date, DC’s only trade has been to bring in Nitish Rana from the Rajasthan Royals, with Donovan Ferreira moving the other way to facilitate the deal.
Looking ahead, Delhi will be in the market for a gun opener to replace the out-of-form Jake Fraser-McGurk. The team experimented with several combinations, trying Abishek Porel, Faf du Plessis, and Fraser-McGurk at the top before settling on Rahul to open alongside Du Plessis. Delhi will also be eyeing a replacement for T. Natarajan, who has proven to be an injury-prone asset over the past few seasons.
When there is a mega auction, there is a limit to the number of players, be it overseas or the Indians, that the squads can retain. But this time around, as it is not a mega auction, teams can retain around as many players as they wish to. Despite the flexible rules, the franchises need to have 25 players, and the purse for each franchise will be around 120 crores.
Nitish Rana (Rs 4.2 crore)
Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Abhishek Porel, Axar Patel, Aashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera and T Natarajan.
Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Donovan Ferreira (Trade), Sediqullah Atal, Manvanth Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Darshan Nalkande.
Purse Remaining: 21.8 crore
Slot remaining: 8 (5 overseas)
Nitish Rana, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Abhishek Porel, Axar Patel, Aashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera and T Natarajan.
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